The WildCare Oklahoma Bat and Chimney Swift Rehabilitation Facility is the 2025–26 project of the American School Design Build studio at the University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture. Created in partnership with WildCare Oklahoma, the state’s leading wildlife rehabilitation organization, the project embodies ASDB’s mission to merge design, ecology, and construction. Officially titled C.O.M.M.A. — Conservation of Oklahoma’s Mammals and Migratory Avians, the facility is the first in the nation to serve both bats and chimney swifts within a single structure. Its spiral form, drawn from the curve of a wing, reflects protection and movement while fostering natural light, air, and habitat flow.

Now at mid-construction, the team has completed earthwork, footings, and a custom cast stem wall, establishing the foundation for framing and enclosure. This wall, formed through layered dimensional boards, produces a sculpted concrete surface that captures light and depth. The fall phase has transformed the site into a hands-on lab for material innovation and precision building. As construction moves into spring, students will raise the framing and roof, bringing the project closer to completion as the nation’s first dual-integrated bat and chimney swift rehabilitation facility.

A defining feature of the project is its experimental stem wall system, developed through full-scale mock-ups and iterative on-site fabrication. Rather than relying on conventional flat formwork, the design team employed layered dimensional boards with variable offsets to cast a wall that captures light, shadow, and texture across its surface. The result is a three-dimensional concrete facade that reads as both structure and ornament — an architectural record of the building process itself.

Each segment of formwork was hand-fitted, producing subtle shifts in depth that give the wall a tactile rhythm echoing the natural stone formations and stratified soils of Oklahoma. The embedded J-hooks, rebar ties, and reinforcement boards were meticulously placed to ensure both strength and aesthetic precision.

This approach transformed the foundation phase into a design research exercise, exploring how construction logic and aesthetic expression can converge through material intelligence. The wall now stands as a crafted threshold — grounding the future enclosure while marking a pedagogical milestone in ASDB’s ongoing exploration of fabrication as research.